Sport ball



June 1,1926.

' L58Z392 W. W. MacDONALD SPORT BALL l 1521/1822 Zo'.

William WJa/en ala /y @(MLQLLQM mw (M Patented .lune 1, 1926i.

UNITED STATES PATENT HCE..

WLLIAM'. W. MACDONALD, OF CHICOPEE, MASSACH-USETTS, ASSIGNOR TO A. Gr.SEALD,

ING a BROS., or Niiw YORK, 1v. Y.,

A CORPORATION F NEW JERSEY.

erom; BALL.

Applicatipn filed August 27, 1925. Serial No. 52,786.

The invention is an improvement in sport balls such as foot balls,basket balls and the like, having an iniiatable inner member, and itconcerns particularly the means whereby the bladder may be iniated afterit has been inserted through the slit 0r opening in said cover and afterthe cover has been laced to draw the edges of the cover together.

The invention consists in the process and in the features andcombination and arrangement of parts hereinafter described andparticularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accom vanying drawings:

, Figure 1 is a cross sectional View showing so much of the ball as isnecessary to make clear the disposition of the parts during the fillingoperation.

Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the relative position of the parts andthe condition of the filling tube after the filling of the ball has beencompleted, the pump nozzle having been withdrawn and the ball ready forplay.

Fig. 8 is a front view.

Fig. l is a perspective view yof a washer.

In these drawings l indicates the bladder or inflatable member made orrubber, 2 is the cover member of leather having an opening 3 and lacing4f as usual and having also the flap 5 of substantially ordinary formstitched t0 the inner side of said cover and adapted to extend acrossthe opening and with its free portion bearing on the inner side of thecover.

The bladder may have a flutter valve 6 on its inner side to extendacross and close the filling opening by reason of the internal pressure.A

This filling opening in the present case extends through a tube 7 whichentends outwardly from the bladder through an opening 8 in the flap 5.The tube is of rubber integral with the bladder walland it has aniltegral enlargement or ring 9 near its base. This enlargement whenpulled through the opening 8 lies on the outer side of said flap. Thefilling tube` also has an integral enlargement or ring shaped hea-d 10at its outer end which when the filling operation is being performed asshown in Fig. l bears against the inner side of the cover member asshown in Fig. l. The portion of the'tube between the enlargements 9, 10is relatively thin and flexible. E Before the inflating of the bladderis done it will'lbe understood that it has been inserted into placewithin the cover in its collapsed condition. The pump nozzle has beeninserted into the filling tube and the lacing has been completed andsecured and the closure of opening 3 has been completed. This conditionof the parts is shown in Fig. l, it being noted that the head of thefilling tube is bearing against the inner side of the cover at thevedges of the slit or open-` ing therein, which now has been closed. Thepump 1s now operated and after the bladder has been completely inflatedthe pump is removed, withdrawing its nozzle from the filling tube andout through the slit or opening. As soon as the filling tube is freedfrom the support aEorded by the nozzle, that is, as soon as the nozzleis withdrawn, the filling tube collapses and assumes the bent positionindicated in Fig. 2 and it thus closes the filling opening, extendingthrough it and prevents the escape of air pressure from the bladder.

In other words the filling tube automatically assumes a bent or doubledup position and brings the opposing portions of its wall together toeect a closure against the escape of the air pressure from the inflatedbladder. This avoids the hand operation heretofore employed in whichafter the bladder is inflated and before the lacing is done, it has beennecessary to double the tube by hand and tie it in this position andthereafter tuck it within `the cover and follow this with the lacing,all of which is difficult to do because of the tendency for the bladderwall now under pressure of its contained air to bulge out through theopening in the cover which as yet has not been laced.

By the present invention the doubling up or bending of the filling tubeis performed automatically as a result of removing the pump nozzletherefrom and allowing the internal pressure to force the bladderoutwardly at the region where the tube is located and'thus the doublin@Pup occurs between the bladder and the lac-ed or closed cover against theinner side of which the head of the tube bears.

During the filling operation as shown in Fig. l the nozzle of the pumplying within the filling tube supports the same against collapsing. Theenlarged head of the tube bears on the inner side of the closed coverwhere it is laced, contacting with both edges lltl at the opening. Thepressure of the bladder is exerted against the inner face of the flapwhere the tube goes through and the flap in turn presses upon theenlargement at the base oil the tube, and therefore when the pump nozzleis removed and the tube is no longer supported it collapses at itsweakest point which is intermediate the enlargements, and hence thedoubling up action taires place .automatically and the bladder is sealedragainst the escape of .air pressure.

The closure effected by the doubled up filling tube .alone will serveAto hold the pressure within the bladder, In other words, the liuttervalve may be dispensed with but l prefer to employ the flutter valve inaddition to the automatically doubled up or bent tube.

lilhen the flutter valve is employed the pump nozzle will force it fromits seat as shown in Fig. l to Vallow free access of air in filling thebladder. The flutter valve being made of rubber would of course giveduring the filling operation under the pressure of the air forced in bythe pump sufficiently to allow the inflating of the bag, but l prefer tohave a pump .nozzle of sul'licient length to force the elastic rubberstrip constituting the valve away from its seat around the fillingopening for the free entrance of air.

lThe enlargement of the base of the filling tube forms a connectionbetween the tube and the flap and holds the tube in proper relation tothe opening in the cover so that the bladder will not creep and furtherthe tube is thereby maintained on the filling nozzle during theinflating operation, because it resists any tendency for the tube toleave the nozzle during this operation.

4'l he outer enlargement or head of the tube not only aflords a bearingto contact with the inner side of the cover member but it aids indetermining the point at which the tube will double up upon itself inthe automatic closing of the filling opening, 'that is, the doublingwill take place at a point about midway of the tube between theenlargements where its walls are thinner and flexible, rather than atthe regions where the enlargements occur.

i prefer to employ a comparatively thin elastic rubber washer at 91between the base of the enlargement 9 and the apron or flap This washeris of considerably larger diameter than the diameter of the enlargement9 and it can be stretched to pass over the enlargement and seat itselfbetween the base of the same and the outer face of the apron or flap 5.its purpose is to prevent the bladder from falling baclr into the caseor cover and pulling the tube with its enlargement back through theopening in the flap or apron. It enables a small diameter enlargement 9to be used, such as may be readily pulled outwardly through the openingin the apron or flap. It presents a suliicient bulk of material toinsure the locking of the tube against being drawnback inwardly throughthe opening in the flap or apron during the inflation of the bladder.

In assembling the parts the bladder is placed in the casing or cover andits tube is then drawn out through the opening in the flap or apron. Forthis purpose the enlargement 9 is of such diameter as to permit itreadily to be drawn through the opening in the apron, and yet presentample shoulder area lying on the outer side of the flap.

Having drawn the tube through so that its enlargement lies on the outerface of the flap, f

the washer is stretched and forced down over the enlargement 9 to restupon the outer face of the flap or apron 5 and under the enlargementwhere it will resist any tendency for the enlargement to recede inwardlyi1 through the opening in the flap. Thus a comparatively smallenlargement 9 can be used relative to the hole 1n the flap because theelastic washer will hug the tube below l the enlargement 9 and present alarge enough body of material to prevent the recession of the tubethrough the opening in the flap.

The opening' in the washer is of less diameter than the tube.

The above description and drawing are l presented as illustrative of theprinciples involved in my invention and are not to be regarded asrestrictive upon its scope which is defined by the accompanying claims.

I claim:

l. In a ball of the class described and in combination, an inflatablebladder, a cover member having an opening through which the bladder' isinserted, means for closing said opening, said bladder having a fillingtube adapted to be automatically collapsed into doubled up conditionbetween the inflated bladder and the cover, substantially as described.

2. ln combination in a ball, a covermember having an opening with lacingfor substantially closing the same, an inflatable bladder insertiblethrough said opening and having a filling tube connected therewith onthe outer side thereof, said filling tube being adapted to receive afilling nozzle. and being automatically collapsed into doubled upcondition between the inflated bladder and the cover, substantially asdescribed.

3. ln combination in a ball, a cover having an opening with means forclosing the same, an inflatable bladder through said opening, saidbladder having a filling tube on the outer side thereof, adapted toreceive a filling nozzle, said tube having an enlargement at its outerend to bear on the inner side of the cover member to determine theapproximate point at which the tube will bend, said tube being held inbent or doubled condition to form a closure,

insertible against the escape of air, solely by said inflated bladderpressing the tube between; itself and the cover member.

a. In combination in a ball, a cover having an opening, and a member onthe interior of the cover to close said opening and an inflatablebladder having an external fill ing tube passing through an opening inthe sain member with an enlargement on said tube on the outer face ofthe said member, said enlargement being at the base of the tube, themain, portion of said tube lying between the said enlargement and thecover.

5. In combination in a ball, a cover member hai/'ing a laced opening anda flap, and an inflatable bladder having an external filling tubeextending through an opening in the flap, and adapted to receive a pumpnozzle, said tube having an enlargement on the outer side of the flapand a terminal enlargement to bear on the inner side of the cover.

G. In combination in a ball, a cover member having an opening and aninflatable bladder, insertible through said opening and having anexternal filling tube adapted to receive a filling nozzle and having arelatively weak zone intermediate of its length to insure its bending atthis point and forming a closure when the inflated bladder presses itagainst the inner side of the ball cover, substantially as described.

7. In combination in a foot ball or the like, a cover having a lacedopening, a bladder having a valve composed of a rubber sheet on itsinterior and an external filling tube to receive a filling nozzle, saidfilling tube being adapted to bend intermediate of its length underpressure of the inflated bladder to form a closure supplementing theclosing action of the elastic valve member.

8. rlhe hereindescribed process of filling 'foot ball or basket ballcomprising lacing the cover over the end of the external collapsiblefilling tube of the bladder and about a filler nozzle inserted therein,then inflating the bladder through said filler nozzle, thenu'fithdraiving said nozzle, and allowing the filling tube under pressureof the inflated bladder, to collapse and bend intermediate its length toclose the opening through said tube, substantially as described.

9. In a sport ball, a casing or cover having an opening with a flap orapron at said opening, a bladder insertible through said opening havinga filling tube passing through an opening in the apron and with anenlargement on the outer side of' said apron, and an elastic washer ofsufficient diameter to prevent pulling through the opening in the apron,said elastic washer lying between the enlargement of the tube and theouter face of the apron, substantially as described.

10. In a sport ball, a casing or cover having an opening with a flap orapron at said opening, a bladder insertible through said opening havinga filling tube passing through an opening in the apron and with anenlargement on the outer side of said apron, .and a washer of largerdiameter than the enlargement lying between the same and the apron,substantially as described.

1l. In a sport ball, a casing or cover having an opening with a flap orapron at said opening, a bladder insertible through said opening havinga filling tube passing through an opening in the apron and with anenlargement on the outer side of said apron, and a washer of largerdiameter than the enlargement lying between the same and the apron, saidwasher being detachable from the filling tube.

12. In a sport ball, a casing or cover having an opening with a fiap,`orapron at said opening, a bladder insertible through said opening havinga filling tube passing through an opening in the apron and with anv enargement on the outer side of said apron, and an elastic washer adaptedto be stretched to go over the enlargement and seat itself between theenlargement and the apron, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I afliX my signature.

WILLIAM w. MACDoNALn.

